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alex williams

@atwilliams.bsky.social

8.1K followers 2K following 4.6K posts

macroeconomist and computer user at common-wealth.org, editor at www.continuousvariation.com, fellow at stanford, partisan of the republic of letters

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alex williams @atwilliams.bsky.social · Aug 22

"because only that exists which can be posted, bodies themselves fell under the regime of the symbolic" - literal Kittler

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Matthew Cole @mattcole.bsky.social · 1h

My first book, *Unpaid: the Past, Present and Future of Wage Theft*, will be published by @versobooks.bsky.social in May, 2026!

This book is born from experience. It is written for anyone who is dissatisfied with the capitalist wage system.

UK pre-order: www.waterstones.com/book/unpaid/...

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alex williams @atwilliams.bsky.social · 1h

pluto stations direct in aquarius today folks

alex williams @atwilliams.bsky.social · 1h

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Adam S. Hersh, Ph.D. @ahecon.bsky.social · 1h

Good thing Trump and congressional Republicans are gutting EV manufacturing...

www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...

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Sam Joiner @samjoiner.bsky.social · 8h

New: How mega batteries are unlocking an energy revolution.

A boom in grid-scale storage is solving renewables’ reliability problem and extending the use of clean power.

Latest visual story w/ @nassosstylianou.bsky.social @samlearner.bsky.social @inari-ta.bsky.social

🔋👉 ig.ft.com/mega-batteri...

How mega batteries are unlocking an energy revolution

Vast battery units are shoring up grids and extending the use of clean power

ig.ft.com

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 1h

"States that embrace renewable energy are far more likely to save money for electricity consumers than those relying on fossil fuels or nuclear power, a POLITICO analysis of federal and industry data shows." 13 of the 17 "green-heavy, low-cost" states backed Trump in 2024.

The government’s own data rebuts Trump’s claims about wind and solar prices

The Trump administration has targeted renewable energy for driving up electricity prices, but POLITICO’s analysis shows states that are growing their wind and solar power typically have lower power co...

www.politico.com

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Dr. S.A. Applin @anthropunk.bsky.social · 2h

All of the dumb ideas seem to come from either Stanford drop-outs (Altman) or Standford graduates (Thiel).

Futurism @futurism.com · 4h

So that's where we're at.

Sam Altman Says If Jobs Gets Wiped Out, Maybe They Weren't Even "Real Work" to Start With

Worried that AI will destroy work? Well, Sam Altman asks if you've considered what a farmer from half a century ago thinks of your job, first.

trib.al

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alex williams @atwilliams.bsky.social · 2h

and look at what use people are putting out Legal Unit to.....dismal

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alex williams @atwilliams.bsky.social · 2h

american economic identity is about opportunism, which is why every post about economy is just opportunistic.

this is a bigger issue than "virtue signalling" imo

derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 16h

It's hard to help Americans left behind because so much of US identity is rooted in individualism. The average American conservative holds all three positions at once:

— Virtue signals about supporting US manufacturing
— Against raising the minimum wage
— Buys foreign imports because they're cheap

HardPass4 on Twitter tweets: "I'm willing to pay more for quality products if they are made in America, by Americans, who are paid a decent income." The tweet shows Norman Rockwell's "Freedom of Speech" painting, which is often used to show the tweeter is expressing a brave opinion.

HardPass4 on Twitter tweets: "MINIMUM WAGE JOBS WERE NOT MEANT TO BE A CAREER. Why does no one understand this? Entry level jobs are STEPPING STONES to better jobs. No one wants to work towards that though."

HardPass4 on Twitter tweets: "Buy $5 gloves instead of $50 ones. Trust me." The tweet shows a box of "Gorilla Grip" gloves.

The label on Gorilla Grip gloves show they're made in China.

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rev. howard arson @theophite.bsky.social · 8h

it isn't even profitable. LLMs, sure. they do a bunch of useful things. video models are just rolling coal to piss in the world's information environment.

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alex williams @atwilliams.bsky.social · 21h

ol stinkin pete hasnt had to impress someone mentally over the age of 23 in a long while seems like

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 1d

thiel, man, what the fuck are you talking about

He describes the plot of Watchmen, a 1986 graphic novel involving superheroes grappling with moral questions about humanity against the backdrop of impending nuclear war:

The antihero Ozymandias, the antichrist-type figure, is sort of an early-modern person. He believes this will be a timeless and eternal solution – eternal world peace. Moore is sort of a late-modern. In early modernity, you have ideal solutions, ‘perfect’ solutions to calculus. In late modernity, things are sort of probabilistic. And at some point, he asks Dr Manhattan whether the world government is going to last. And he says that ‘nothing lasts forever.’ So you embrace the antichrist and it still doesn’t work.

Thiel later finds biblical meaning in the manga One Piece, discussing how he believes it represents a future where an antichrist-like one-world government has repressed science. He believes that the hero, Monkey D Luffy, represents a Christlike figure.

In One Piece, you are set in a fantasy world, again sort of an alternate earth, but it’s 800 years into the reign of this one-world state. Which, as the story unfolds, gradually gets darker and darker. You sort of realize, in my interpretation, who runs the world and it’s something like the antichrist. There’s Luffy, a pirate who wears a red straw hat, sort of like Christ’s crown of thorns. And then towards the end of the story, transforms into a figure who resembles Christ in Revelation.

Thiel, along with a researcher and writer at Thiel Capital, explored these ideas at greater length in an essay for the religious journal First Things earlier this month.

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Daniel Denvir @danieldenvir.bsky.social · 2d

New @thedigradio.bsky.social: SECOND of two w @melindacooper.bsky.social on Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance. How asset boom and bust drove MAGA’s rise and also revealed powerful monetary tools that could make socialism—that and more www.thedigradio.com/podcast/from...

From Fiscal Austerity to Monetary Abundance w/ Melinda Cooper

Featuring Melinda Cooper on Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance. Balanced budget conservatism and supply side populism engineered a politics of austerity and budget deficit...

www.thedigradio.com

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Boorke Gutslinger @bleaktheology.bsky.social · 1d

I really need to read Thiel's argument on this, but an antichrist necessitates a Christ. Who/what is Thiel's Christ? And what is the ontology of that Christ? What is the foundation (and its components) of that Christ?

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 1d

honestly i get why this is incomprehensible to the Guardian but this is basically Kojeve's argument on Hegel

Do Thiel’s arguments make sense?
In a word, no. For one representative example, look to his muddled, contradictory summation of who the antichrist may be:

There is a way to think that the antichrist represents the end of philosophy – culmination, termination. He is the individual who gets rid of all individuals; the philosopher who ends all philosophers; the Caesar who ends all rulers; the person who understands all secrets. How is this possible in late modernity, where we don’t believe a philosopher-king, tyrant or ruler can come to power?

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alex williams @atwilliams.bsky.social · 1d

"The Posting to Policy Pipeline: 2015 to 2030"

alex williams @atwilliams.bsky.social · 1d

the posting to policy pipeline is the defining technique of the Long Trump Era

Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 2d

The platform formerly known as Twitter may be horrible, but it is still shaping policy. So were we all wrong to leave?

Was the left wrong to leave X for BlueSky?

The platform formerly known as Twitter may be horrible, but it's still shaping policy

www.newstatesman.com

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👁🌻🦊⚙️⚓ Bob, Engineer, Pusher of Paper @navmecheng.bsky.social · 1d

> It is 2025 BC. I am a soldier from one of the outlying provinces called to defend the pyramid in Memphis

> It is 2025 AD. I am a soldier from one of the outlying provinces called to defend the pyramid in Memphis

Soldiers at the Bass Pro Shops pyramid in Memphis, TN.

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alex williams @atwilliams.bsky.social · 1d

hopefully we can all agree now that economic models are models like dioramas are models and some are better and some are worse and there probably wont ever be a best

alex williams @atwilliams.bsky.social · 1d

model uncertainty is real, and historically strong, and oddly but truly by this point my friend

utopia deferred @utopia-defer.red · 1d

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alex williams @atwilliams.bsky.social · 1d

that would make the slogan too long, but yes

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Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 1d

Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”

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alex williams @atwilliams.bsky.social · 1d

democracy is paper ballots hand-counted in public

Sky Marchini @sky.skymarchini.net · 1d

So dominion voting got sold, look at this fascinating statement from their new owner (not to doom but this is, uh, suboptimal). www.dominionvoting.com

(Dominion voting website now redirecting to libertyvote.com with the following statement:)

Our Promise.
-
My Fellow Americans,
Today, I am proud to announce Liberty Vote - a 100% American-owned election technology company dedicated to restoring trust in our elections. Our mission is clear: every vote must be secure, fair, and verifiable.
I have spent my life working to strengthen America's elections. That commitment began years ago, in the aftermath of the 2000 election, when I worked for the Missouri Secretary of State. Later, as Election Director in St. Louis, I led the effort to modernize outdated systems and rebuild public trust. Eventually, I founded an election technology company that today serves nearly one in four voters nationwide.
With Liberty Vote, we are building on that legacy. We are turning the page and beginning the vital work of restoring faith in American elections. While these changes will not happen overnight, Liberty Vote's mission is rooted in American values and committed to transparency, independent audits, and verifiable paper records.
Our purpose is simple: to ensure that America's elections are secure, fair, and honest.
Scott Leiendecker
Founder and Chairman, Liberty Vote

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Ted Underwood @tedunderwood.com · 1d

Reposting this, because I found this short article an encouraging model of how one academic discipline is proactively engaging AI and reshaping it for disciplinary needs.

Sung Kim @sungkim.bsky.social · 7d

Mathematical discovery in the age of artificial intelligence

They consider how artificial intelligence tools are reshaping the way mathematical research is conducted and discuss how future developments of this technology will transform mathematical practice.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Mathematical discovery in the age of artificial intelligence - Nature Physics

In this comment, we consider how artificial intelligence tools are reshaping the way mathematical research is conducted and discuss how future developments of this technology will transform mathematical practice.

www.nature.com

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alex williams @atwilliams.bsky.social · 1d

press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...

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Sara Partridge, Ph.D. @sarapartridge.bsky.social · 1d

There are reports that the *entire* office of special education at the US Dept of Education has been cut. These hardworking folks ensure kids with disabilities get equal access to a quality education.

America’s children deserve better than this.

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